House OKs bill to end air-traffic furloughs

FAA gets flexibility to shift funds; measure heads to Obama

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The House of Representatives on Friday approved a bill aimed at ending furloughs of air-traffic controllers, which have caused travel delays and angered U.S. fliers.

The bill, which passed the Senate late Thursday night, would give the Department of Transportation authority to adjust the Federal Aviation Administration’s budget to “prevent reduced operations and staffing” for the rest of the government’s budget year, which ends Sept. 30.

Anthony92931/Wikipedia

It allows the FAA to redirect up to $253 million from other areas of its budget.

“This bill will force [the Obama administration] to stop these needless furloughs,” said Rep. Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican, who chairs the House Transportation Committee.

Top Democrats including Rep. Steny Hoyer, the party’s whip, opposed the bill, saying it doesn’t address the entire effect of the so-called “sequester” cuts responsible for the furloughs. The final vote was 361 in favor, and 41 opposed.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama would sign the bill.

Furloughs began on Sunday, one highly visible result of the $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts under the sequester. The FAA alone was required to cut $600 million from its budget, forcing the agency to require its 15,000 air-traffic controllers to take an unpaid day off every 10 days.

Following the Senate’s vote on Thursday night, Carney said it would be “good news” for U.S. travelers if Congress acts to stop flight delays.

But Carney added: “ultimately, this is not more than a temporary Band-Aid that fails the address the overarching threat to our economy posed by the sequester’s mindless across-the-board cuts.”

The furloughs were playing a starring role this week in the continuing finger-pointing in Washington over the sequester, which went into effect in March. Obama signed the order enacting the cuts after failing to reach a deal with Republicans to reverse them.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.